WHO Considers Gaming Obsession A Mental Disorder

It doesn’t matter if you are a 10-year-old boy or a 30-year-old man, you can be addicted to video games. Over the past few decades, video games have been one of the most loved electronic devices that is mainly used for entertainment. It has definitely evolved over time just like mobile phones, which is why children, as well as adults, are still going crazy whenever there is a new video game or a video game console has been released in the market, but still loves the vintage ones. However, more and more people, both children and adults, are getting a little too addicted to video games that experts are actually considering making it a mental health disorder, continue reading to find out more.

WHO TAKES ON GAMING DISORDER

It started out as an ordinary way to entertain yourself to pass the time to simply have fun, then again, it seems like it is becoming a bit more than that it actually affects your everyday life. The World Health Organization revealed in their draft of International Classification of Diseases a particular subject regarding video games known as the gaming disorder. WHO even categorized it as having impaired control. Based on the beta draft guidance, a diagnosis was said to be made when a person plays video games, either offline or online, evidently over at least a year. Then again, there is an exception to those who show severe signs and symptoms. Health care professionals will then diagnose them even if they haven’t been playing video games for a year.

According to the spokesperson of the World Health Organization, Gregory Hartl, this is only a way of health professionals to diagnose as well as clinically identify the gaming disorder, which means actually preventing it as well as treating it is not part of it.

INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES

According to Hartl, the International Classification of Diseases actually serves as the base when it comes to having to identify health trends as also as global statistics and standards for whenever a health condition or a disease needs to be reported. It is also being used all over the globe by physicians as well as researchers to be able to identify certain medical conditions. The particular list is so comprehensive that actually helps medical researchers share as well as compare information from different ones all over the globe, whether it is information or research from the past or from the other side of the world. It is also used by health experts to be able to track the number of deaths as well as from what diseases it caused.

When the gaming disorder was taken into consideration, Hartl said that it was actually proposed and talked about by several countries, they basically decide what kind of resources, treatments as well as rehabilitation it would have. When the gaming disorder has been added, this just basically means that medical experts such as licensed physicians may actually diagnose people for it.

The International Classification of Diseases lists down every single disease there is whether it mental or physical. For mental disorders however, there is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that is actually by the American Psychiatric Association wherein they produced it manually and only mental disorders are in it.
Although the Internet Gaming Disorder is not exactly a included in there yet, scientists and medical experts believe that further research regarding the matter would definitely push it to come through.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GAMING DISORDER

When the news broke out regarding gaming disorders, people who are actually playing video games on a regular basis started getting so defensive about it. However, WHO said that this the gaming disorder that they are looking into doesn’t necessarily mean that playing video games is actually a mental disorder. In fact, medical experts believe that video games actually help the hand-eye coordination of a person, it can also be a way to relieve stress especially for adults.

What would make it as a gaming disorder is when it starts to interfere with the attitude as well as the behavior of a person. It is when a person simply plays video games every single day without actually doing something else and is neglecting responsibilities as a human being such as personal hygiene, interacting with other people, going to school or work and more.